]]>Freezing Saddles Winter Riding Competitionchuxtrhttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13197-Cold-weather-kitCreating a manual ride that will be accepted by the BAFS synchttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13193-Creating-a-manual-ride-that-will-be-accepted-by-the-BAFS-sync&goto=newpost
Mon, 05 Feb 2018 23:39:26 GMTDo we have a tried and proven technique for creating a "manual" ride that will actually get counted by the website? I know people have copied rides and re-loaded, but is there a way that anyone has found to do the whole thing from scratch?
]]>Freezing Saddles Winter Riding Competitionjrenauthttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13193-Creating-a-manual-ride-that-will-be-accepted-by-the-BAFS-syncBackend server migrationhttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13183-Backend-server-migration&goto=newpost
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 03:40:44 GMTHi folks -

Just a quick note that we've moved backend server to a new system. This has happened in stages, but I just put in the redirect rule to actually forward people from the [old] https://freezingsaddles.com domain to the [new] https://freezingsaddles.org domain. (For those that are curious, the backend is now split into 3 different application containers: a webhook listener, a sync engine, and the website.)

You probably won't notice any differences in the site (though I think Jon pushed up a few fixes that hadn't yet been deployed to the .com version, but should be on the new one), but this is a new architecture for how we get rides from Strava that will be far less taxing on the API. The old model was generating hundreds of errors per day, so my inbox is quite relieved by this move.

Also, you should notice that your rides show up almost immediately on the leaderboards, as we're using the Strava webhooks system. Webhooks isn't perfect, though, so if you crop a ride or make other minor changes (e.g. classify it as a "commute") that doesn't get pushed down to us as a change. However, we do resync everyone's rides once a day (we divide the athletes up into 24 bins and sync one bin every hour) just in case something gets missed.

We'll also add a resync button/option in the UI. (There's one for photos now, but I think it's broken anyway.)

I'm pretty sure that there are going to be bugs in the new system. Feel free to PM me or, better, email hans at velum dot net. Or even better open a ticket at https://github.com/freezingsaddles/freezing-web/issues . And for anyone that has some Python knowledge or wants to learn, we have lots and lots of open tickets that need addressing. Now that this rearchitecture is done, I will start going through the various leaderboard requests, etc.
]]>Freezing Saddles Winter Riding Competitionhoznhttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13183-Backend-server-migrationPunxsutawney Phil predicts 6 more weeks of winterhttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13182-Punxsutawney-Phil-predicts-6-more-weeks-of-winter&goto=newpost
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 13:04:48 GMTThat is all. Carry on.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/02/02/groundhog-day-2018/1088175001/
Attachment 16684...That is all. Carry on.

I have received a fair amount of push-back from FS Bagel fanciers, so I have devised this alternative round food challenge, for a limited time only, to nod to the Bagelneurers among us. I hope as well to increase interest in Doughneuring, and to help various Team Rides have broader options for ride destinations.

Everyone, I admit, even die-hard Doughneurers like Consularrider and Bikedavid, every once in a while might want a bagel, or be unable to satisfy their doughnut craving and have to settle for a bagel.

So do nut be shocked by this new Bagelneuring Prize. Embrace diversity. Find delicious bagels, post your ratings of those findings here. Ian, I hope you are reading this!

The judge will consider all entries, and you can PM me if you think we need a separate category for Blueberry, Chocolate Chip, or Raisin bagels, or bagel-like qualifying pastries, (Bialys?) all suggestions will be considered.

So, Bagel lovers and all of you doughnut nay-Sayers, Here Is Your Chance!!! Use the month wisely! Enjoy bagels, tag your rides and post your results to #FS18bagel!!

Naturally, I expect you will continue to seek out the real, best round food there is! Doughnuts!! But for this limited time only, eat alternative round food... Vive Round! Edelweiss

Attached Thumbnails

]]>Freezing Saddles Winter Riding CompetitionEdelweisshttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13169-New-Pointless-Prize-Bagelneuring!!-Another-Round-Food-Challenge!-FS18bagelhttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13168-President-s-Day-History-Ride-Monday-February-19th&goto=newpost
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 01:30:35 GMTI'm hosting a President's Day Ride again this year. In recognition of the bicentennial of the Great State of Illinois, this year's ride will visit sites associated with the four Presidents who have called Illinois home: Lincoln, Grant, Reagan and Obama. I'm planning just 6 stops this year. At each stop I'll share some history of the site or individual. I've tried to pick sites that for the most part you probably haven't visited. (I've only been to two myself). I'll once again try to tie historical events to the present.

The official ride will meet at the Lincoln Memorial at 10:30. I plan to get rolling by 10:45. The ride will end at the Lincoln Cottage, which has a museum and also does tours of the cottage (tours are $15). I'm planning on visiting the museum. Scheduling a tour of the cottage with an unknown number of folks arriving at an unknown time will be too unwieldy, so I opted not to include it as part of the ride. If the weather is nice (it was awesome last year) I may do a half DC loop back to Virginia.

I'm planning on starting the morning by having pancakes at Lazy Mike's in Falls Church at 8 a.m. There was a great crowd there last year.

Hope to see you one the ride.

Full Details:
Pre-Ride Pancake Option: Optional meet up at Lazy Mike's in Falls Church for pancakes
Ride Meet: 10:30 in front of the Lincoln Memorial steps (look for the tall bearded white guy and the short Asian lady with bikes that look like this: https://i0.wp.com/www.waba.org/wp-co...size=581%2C305)
Safety Brief: 10:45 I'll give a quick safety brief (intro of the marshal team, hand and voice signals and ride overview)
Roll out: Lincoln Memorial is the first stop. We'll roll out afterwards.
Bathroom Break: There will be a bathroom/snack break after the third stop at Glen's Garden Market
Route: Approximately 9 miles all on DC streets, with heavy use of low traffic streets, bike lanes and cycletracks
Stops: There will be 6 stops on the tour, all related to President's who have lived in Illinois
End Point: Lincoln Cottage - There's a visitor's center with exhibits to view. They also have a bike rack, though we will likely exceed it's capacity and need to lock bikes to each other. There's a tour of the cottage as well that costs $15. I'm not expecting to do the tour since space is limited and our arrival time is uncertain.
Bring: Bike lock, money and any snacks you need
Optional late lunch: For anyone that wants to grab lunch afterwards, we'll pick a place after the Lincoln Cottage

Watch Bobco's video of last year's ride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mLL8wkM6Ew
]]>Freezing Saddles Winter Riding CompetitionJuddhttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13168-President-s-Day-History-Ride-Monday-February-19thStrava privacy settingshttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13161-Strava-privacy-settings&goto=newpost
Mon, 29 Jan 2018 15:23:37 GMTSince FS is played via Strava, a good article to understand what can happen with your data on Strava. If you haven't already, you should look at your privacy settings and adjust accordingly. FWIW, I've always believed that a lot of bike thefts are the result of people not having their privacy settings set properly.

-Jeff
]]>Freezing Saddles Winter Riding CompetitionGreenbelthttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13136-Freezing-Saddles-nominated-for-WABA-awardKid-related Pointless Prizes (yes, plural!)http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13128-Kid-related-Pointless-Prizes-(yes-plural!)&goto=newpost
Tue, 23 Jan 2018 15:17:44 GMTOK – let’s try this again. (Will be interesting what Tapatalk does to this.) I will be sponsoring several pointless prizes tied to riding bicycles with kids during Freezing Saddles. The two hashtags to use and when to use them are:

#kidical – this is the long-standing FS definition of riding your bike with one or more kids “attached” to your bike. This could be a trailer, cargo bike, kids seat on the front or back, or trailercycle. Leaderboard is based on total miles ridden. (https://freezingsaddles.com/pointless/kidmiles)

There also will be a combined prize to reward those who have a good mix of both. May just be combined miles, probably will be something more convoluted, such as something involving root mean squares of shares of the total mileage for each category, to reward good performance in both rather than a one trick pony (like me). Will update this once I decide. There may be more variations/options as well if I can think of something.

Now, for some FAQ-style info:
Q: Does it have to be my kid?
A: No.

Q: Really?!?
A: Yes, really. However, you should have permission to take the kid(s) with you.

Q: Any age limits?
A: Yes…let’s keep it to kids 14yo or younger (for the kid part.) Sorry, Judd.

Q: Wait. Is it #withkid or #withkids?
A: #withkid. No 's'. Sorry, Shawn.

Q: I sometimes ride with a kid on the back and alongside another kid. Which hashtag do I choose?
A: Both! And if you stopped for coffee or beer and were rocking your sock game while riding gravel – use all of the appropriate hashtags.

Q: What if I ride with two kids on the back of a cargo bike uphill in the snow?
A: Just single credit for a #kidical ride. And a tip of the chapeau, and whatever the opposite of envy is.

Q: What if I just happen to ride alongside a random kid one afternoon on the MBT? Does that count?
A: No. To harken back to middle school relationship terminology: you were with them but not really "with" them.

Q: What do I do if only part of my ride applies?
A: Just end the ride on your GPS-enabled device when your status changes or otherwise split your ride and tag appropriately.

Q: I had no idea this was a thing and just saw this now. When does it start?
A: Scoring covers the same period as Freezing Saddles (so starting January 1st).

Q: How do I get credit for earlier rides?
A: Just edit the titles to add the appropriate hashtag(s) and they’ll get picked up.

Q: This is too complicated. I don’t want to play.
A: Everyone is welcome, and I’d hate for people to feel that way, but as awesome-ish as they are, the small prizes aren’t worth any sort of angst.

Q: I have another question.
A: Then ask it below :)
]]>Freezing Saddles Winter Riding CompetitionLhasaCMhttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13128-Kid-related-Pointless-Prizes-(yes-plural!)The largest circle prize.http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13122-The-largest-circle-prize&goto=newpost
Mon, 22 Jan 2018 02:47:11 GMTI figure I'm not going to win anything on this dumb competition, so I might as well award something to someone.

This original challenge was to have the largest circle on the distance/elevation/speed page, but I have learned that this is just the average speed and not based upon some complicated formula, so that idea is being scrapped.

Someone mentioned they thought that it would be for the longest ride that looks like a circle, so I will go ahead and change the challenge to that. I probably won't be that strict on the interpretation of what a circle looks like, but it should be mostly round!

The prize will still be a six-pack of your beverage of choice.

Hopefully people can post rides that they want entered into this thread. Otherwise, I guess I'll have to figure out who the winner will be. Now get out there and ride around in circles.

p.s. I changed the context of this original post, so if you happen to read some of the following posts, they may not make much sense if you haven't seen this post before.
]]>Freezing Saddles Winter Riding CompetitionAlanAhttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13122-The-largest-circle-prizeImpact of the Fed shutdown on BAFShttp://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?13115-Impact-of-the-Fed-shutdown-on-BAFS&goto=newpost
Sat, 20 Jan 2018 15:26:50 GMTIf the Federal Shutdown lasts for a few weeks, I bet the average miles per rider is going to set a record.
I am a little jealous, since I just...If the Federal Shutdown lasts for a few weeks, I bet the average miles per rider is going to set a record.

I am a little jealous, since I just left a DOI job where I would have been off and free to ride all the time. I know many of you Feds and Fed Contractors may be designated as essential, but for those of you that are not essentials, I expect see BAFS folks punching out double centuries on weekdays. Especially if you are on Team 3.